Lewiston, Maine – September 8, 1908
On the evening of September 8, 1908, 18-year-old Fred Owen of Haverhill, Mass. was giving a demonstration of his airship at the Maine State Fair before a large crowd. While at a altitude of 2500 feet, he apparently lost steering control of the ship, and found himself being carried by wind currents over a dense forest. Fortunately he managed to land safely in a field near Bowdoin Center roughly twenty-five miles from where he started.
Source: (Woonsocket) Evening Reporter, “Boy Has Wild Ride When Airship Runs Away”, Sept. 9, 1908.
